The Rich Heritage Classic is a basketball showcase that will take place next spring and is designed to introduce HBCUs to high school athletes across the country.
HBCU Sports contributor Brandon King spoke with the event’s creator, Devin Green, a former basketball player at Hampton, about the upcoming event and the goals it seeks to achieve.
Brandon King: Tell us about the Rich Heritage Classic
Devin Green: It’s a high school All-Star game that will be inspired by HBCUs and by the student-athletes who have committed and are interested in pursuing their college and collegiate careers at HBCUs. But the actual game, event, and weekend is a fundraiser. It will be two games; we have men’s and women’s, and we look forward to a fun-filled weekend.
Think about it [as] All-Star Weekend meets Homecoming. We want to give them a platform to come in and showcase their talent and a first-hand experience of what it would be like to play at the HBCU.
King: With the high school kids that you are bringing in, how are you identifying them?
Devin Green: I’m so tapped into [HS basketball]. My job kind of runs parallel to what we’re doing now. I’m just constantly on top of this information, and being that I played ball, I have a lot of relationships with coaches and stuff like that.
For me, it’s talking to coaches and trying to get names ahead of time so we can make sure that we’re bringing in the right group of guys and girls and make sure they’re getting the best experience possible. We want a talented group that represents the next wave of HBCU excellence.
If we can get them a little more interested [in HBCUs], I think we’ll start to see some turnover regarding more top-tier players coming to [HBCUs]. The ladies, especially the ladies, are adamant in saying, “I want to go to an HBCU,” and these are ladies who are at the top prep schools in the country.
King: You had generated some interest as a basketball player from high school. What made you choose Hampton? Was attending an HBCU always the plan?
Devin Green: After I read about and heard about stories of guys coming from HBCUs, I was like, oh man, I’m. So, you know, hearing about guys ahead of me like Flip Murray, who went to a D2. Jerome James, I’m saying, so you know, hearing about these stories and stuff like that got me ants up. OK, you know, it might be a little more challenging, but I’m used to that. Even if it wasn’t perfect, I was like, man, I can still get there. Then, once I went on my recruiting trip, I was like, Hampton on the water,[and] all that. , I’m out there.
Green appeared in 123 games and 117 starts for the Pirates and finished with career averages of 14.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He was also a two-time All-MEAC performer and was part of the 2001 team that defeated the University of North Carolina 77-69.
King: You were on that 2001-02 Hampton team that beat UNC. What can you say about that group?
Devin Green: That Hampton team was so special because we had a bunch of guys that weren’t supposed to be there, to be honest with you. We just had a bunch of dogs. If you look at every one of those players, those dudes won. That was the deciding factor for that season, and that’s what made that season so special. Playing with those guys, we wanted to win. On that team, everybody accepted their role. Everybody was competing for minutes and all that kind of stuff, but when the ball went up, [it] didn’t matter if he was coming off the bench for two minutes, they came, [and] they played hard. I think our coaching staff did an excellent job recruiting. I still believe that team is so unique, man.
King: Can you talk about the resource gap and the effect that can have on athletes?
Devin Green: It’s this severe gap that’s created once you get to college. And that is because at our HBCU, we don’t have nutritionists, we don’t have, you know, we don’t have the weight facilities, we don’t have the proper facilities for recovery and all this kind of stuff. So it creates this gap, and this even happened to me, and that’s why I even know that I was a player. The top 100 players are coming to high school.
But these are things that we’re working on continuing to develop the players and make sure that they’re just getting the proper stuff to make their dreams come true.
We’ve been in talks with [the Basketball Africa League] about doing a combine for the HBCU players because I’ve been in these guys’ shoes. You want [to make]the NBA so bad, and you might have the talent, but you might be behind a little bit, and the only reason you’re behind is the lack of resources.
That is because, at our HBCUs, we don’t have nutritionists, weight facilities, or the proper facilities for recovery. We’re talking about the tangible solutions, trying to see what the players, schools, and community need, and then just making things happen regarding keys.
King: As far as who gets what, do the schools have to apply, or is it predetermined in advance in terms of ‘this year we’re going to raise money for these schools or this conference,’ or is that process still being formulated?
Devin Green: Initially, everything will go in one pot, and then, depending on how much we raise, we’ll do an open enrollment of who needs what, what we can do, and kind of do it like that. Our initial revitalization will start with Morehouse because we’re having it at Morehouse this year.
King: Will there be any ancillary events for the athletes?
Devin Green: We’ll be doing some dope activations panel discussion as well because one of the things that I want for the young student-athletes to understand is, as I thought back in the day, it [sports] was my only way out [but] it’s a million other things to do in the sports industry where you can use your experience as an athlete that continues to help propel you to be successful in that space outside of playing.
We’ve created what I call the “accountability program,” which is going to be for the players that have been selected. They’ll get a free year of career development [and] we’ll be doing group activities throughout that year to help them prepare themselves for what life looks like after sports.
We will have a panel integrated with the brunch [we are having] to help prepare them for life after sports. We want to provide another space for players to discuss what they want to do.
King: What is one of the goals of the Rich Heritage Classic?
Devin Green: I’m just taking my experience and knowledge and pouring them back into the community and our space to ensure that the next generation of HBCU student-athletes has a more enjoyable experience. Our primary mission for the Rich Heritage Foundation is to revitalize sports facilities on HBCU campuses.
King: If a person cannot attend Atlanta to see the games in person, will the game be televised or streamed?
Devin Green: We’re in talks with big-time media companies like NBATV and TNT to get the game aired on national TV.
Additional information on the Rich Heritage Classic can be found at richheritageclassic.com.
